Search for intermediate mass black hole binaries in the first observing run of Advanced LIGO

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Abbott, B. P. and Jawahar, S. and Lockerbie, N. A. and Tokmakov, K. V., LIGO Scientific Collaboration, Virgo Collaboration (2017) Search for intermediate mass black hole binaries in the first observing run of Advanced LIGO. Physical Review D, 96 (2). 022001. ISSN 1550-2368 (https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.96.022001)

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Abstract

During their first observational run, the two Advanced LIGO detectors attained an unprecedented sensitivity, resulting in the first direct detections of gravitational-wave signals produced by stellar-mass binary black hole systems. This paper reports on an all-sky search for gravitational waves (GWs) from merging intermediate mass black hole binaries (IMBHBs). The combined results from two independent search techniques were used in this study: the first employs a matched-filter algorithm that uses a bank of filters covering the GW signal parameter space, while the second is a generic search for GW transients (bursts). No GWs from IMBHBs were detected; therefore, we constrain the rate of several classes of IMBHB mergers. The most stringent limit is obtained for black holes of individual mass 100  M⊙, with spins aligned with the binary orbital angular momentum. For such systems, the merger rate is constrained to be less than 0.93  Gpc−3 yr−1 in comoving units at the 90% confidence level, an improvement of nearly 2 orders of magnitude over previous upper limits.

ORCID iDs

Abbott, B. P., Jawahar, S. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4945-691X, Lockerbie, N. A. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1678-3260 and Tokmakov, K. V. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2808-6593;
  • Item type:Article
    ID code:61851
    Dates:
    Date
    Event
    11 July 2017
    Published
    14 April 2017
    Accepted
    Subjects:Science > Physics
    Department:Faculty of Science > Physics
    Depositing user: Pure Administrator
    Date deposited:22 Sep 2017 08:53
    Last modified:12 Dec 2024 05:46
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/61851
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